A Review of Todd E. Feinberg’s From Axons to Identity: Neurological Explorations of the Nature of the Self

Abstract

Overview Since Phineas Gage’s unfortunate encounter with an iron rod, so-called “experiments of nature” have provided valuable insight into the function of the nervous system. As neuroscience has uncovered more about the workings of the brain, scientists, clinicians and philosophers have found progressively more refined frameworks in which to discuss the effects of neurological dysfunction. In From Axons to Identity: Neurological Explorations of the Nature of the Self (ATI), psychiatrist Todd E. Feinberg explores both clinical and physiological evidence in the hope of clarifying one of the great mysteries of modern science: How do the brain’s diverse and disparate regions produce a unified sense of self?